‘OLD’ ALBUMS NOW OUTSELL NEW ALBUMS ON ITUNES IN AMERICA JANUARY 29, 2015 BY TIM INGHAM

They don’t make ‘em like they used to: MBW has discovered that ‘new’ albums were outsold by ‘old’ (catalogue) albums online in the US for the first time in 2014.

The feat of catalogue albums outselling frontline releases was first achieved back in 2012, but that was a momentary blip; it’s never taken place over a whole year before.

The iTunes/downloads tipping point, as shown by Nielsen stats, is undoubtedly a cute moment, but it also highlights what will be a serious worry for the industry in the future: as you can read/see below, there has been a shocking erosion of sales of ‘new’ albums on physical formats in the past decade.

Such data asks two very clear questions of record labels: are people merely starting to consume their new music on streaming services rather than buying it in album form? Or are they increasingly less impressed with the new album releases that arrive year-in, year-out?

One thing looks certain: it now only appears a matter of time – very possibly in 2015 – when catalogue albums outsell new releases across all formats in a single year.

PHYSICAL ALBUM SALES
Annual physical album sales of ‘current’ or new albums fell by a shocking 80% from 2005 to 2014, down from 379.8m to just 77.6m.

Interestingly, the fall in catalogue sales has been more gentle, dropping 67% in the same time period, down from 222.8m to 73m.

OVERALL ALBUM SALES
As the graph below demonstrates, catalogue album sales on all formats have proven notably more stable than new album sales in the US in the past decade.

Annual ‘new’ album sales have fallen by a massive 150m since 2005, down to 130.5m in 2014.

Meanwhile, catalogue album sales have dropped by 103m in the same period.

If the decline in current album sales continues at its current pace, catalogue albums will almost certainly outsell new albums on all formats by 2016, and possibly even in 2015.

If you want a one-glance indication at how the might of the new album has fallen vs. its catalogue sister product, check out the graph at the bottom – obviously, the space between the two lines represents the dominance of new albums in any given year.

Old music from a band or artist with their new current release or old artists to new artists.

English is not my first language, but they are absolutely comparing sales of old albums vs sales of new albums during this past year.
I found it interesting because in effect during this year I haven't bought any newly released album besides 24K gold, I bought the umpteenth Janis Joplin greatest hits, a David Bowie LP and an old Black Sabbath album but the only other new release I purchased I downloaded it for free.

I'd like to think people are increasingly less impressed with the new album releases that arrive year-in, year-out but rather than admit that they poke their nose in and decide they know what people want in new product (and don't) the labels will deflect all blame by claiming it's because people are merely starting to consume their new music on streaming services rather than buying it in album form. There may be some truth to this to an extent anyways assuming it's younger consumers who would buy the new albums and I doubt they care about a physical product (though I think they should, so they can re-rip etc. if necessary instead of being forced to rebuy an e-copy of something which is clearly where companies want to go anyway, like how you can't get CD-R's of software anymore because they just want to give you the 3 PC download rule so you have to buy the e-version from them again later).

they poke their nose in and decide they know what people want in new product (and don't)

That's certainly true but market laws have always been the same, always working this way.
I think it's a combination of a new culture of fast-music that quickly lose interest in music products and prefers hit singles instead of the over the quality of a whole album and the musical industry that takes advantage of it in a mutual circle.

That's certainly true but market laws have always been the same, always working this way.
I think it's a combination of a new culture of fast-music that quickly lose interest in music products and prefers hit singles instead of the over the quality of a whole album and the musical industry that takes advantage of it in a mutual circle.

Yes, the fact you can buy just a song now instead of a whole album has added to this as well (I guess it could be argued you could buy singles "in the old days" but that still cost a lot more than downloading 1 mp3 now).

Yes, the fact you can buy just a song now instead of a whole album has added to this as well (I guess it could be argued you could buy singles "in the old days" but that still cost a lot more than downloading 1 mp3 now).

I believe in the sustainability of the album format as an art form, even though technology now allows consumers to self-select individual songs -- not taking the time to respect and see the album as a whole. Personal instant gratification takes precedence. In this instant process of pick and choose, songs they might grow to love in time aren't given a chance and are discarded.

Perhaps because of the easy accessibility of music from generations past, listeners are discovering a world of artists and groups that they were unaware of; music that is appealing to them. There is so much great music previous eras that holds value. It's like discovering buried treasures. Just because something is new and currently popular doesn't mean it's better that what came before it. In fact, most new music owes it's viability the influences of past artists.

I'm always impressed when an contestant on American Idol or The Voice chooses a great song generations behind them. It shows they have a depth of reference and influences beyond their current demographic. If they choose a more current or recent popular song, it reveals they influences have only scratched the surface.

I believe in the sustainability of the album format as an art form, even though technology now allows consumers to self-select individual songs -- not taking the time to respect and see the album as a whole. Personal instant gratification takes precedence. In this instant process of pick and choose, songs they might grow to love in time are given a chance and are discarded.

That's very true, I think one of the results of this tendency is the disappearance of the "concept album". In the past they were very present, The who, Pink Floyd, Beatles, Beach boys, David Bowie and the Kinks widely used concept album as an artistic mean but the only modern concept album that I know of is American idiot, and that was 10-15 years ago.

English is not my first language, but they are absolutely comparing sales of old albums vs sales of new albums during this past year.
I found it interesting because in effect during this year I haven't bought any newly released album besides 24K gold, I bought the umpteenth Janis Joplin greatest hits, a David Bowie LP and an old Black Sabbath album but the only other new release I purchased I downloaded it for free.

OK I understand.I have not buy any other classic artists or bands myself besides Stevie's work.I know it sounds crud for the artists.Most of their work shows up on Youtube or other video sites for free.

__________________
Skip R........

Stevie fan forever and ever amen.......
the Wildheart at Edge of Seventeen and the Gypsy.....

I wish this single pick feature was available when I was buying albums like hotcakes back in the 1970's and 80's.It would eliminate all the filler crap tunes.It would be music a la carte .Pick what you went.Eliminate the fluff filler.

__________________
Skip R........

Stevie fan forever and ever amen.......
the Wildheart at Edge of Seventeen and the Gypsy.....

I wish this single pick feature was available when I was buying albums like hotcakes back in the 1970's and 80's.It would eliminate all the filler crap tunes.It would be music a la carte .Pick what you went.Eliminate the fluff filler.

Yes it's very useful, but it transforms music into another capitalist consumer good to use and then trash when it's not in vogue anymore.
I prefer to listen free online and then if I really like the music I'll buy the CD.

Yes it's very useful, but it transforms music into another capitalist consumer good to use and then trash when it's not in vogue anymore.
I prefer to listen free online and then if I really like the music I'll buy the CD.

Yes .I like that feature of previewing before you buy.Its like the local record shop in town years ago let you take it for a spin in their turntable before you buy it.

I never had to do that for Stevie records.

__________________
Skip R........

Stevie fan forever and ever amen.......
the Wildheart at Edge of Seventeen and the Gypsy.....

That's very true, I think one of the results of this tendency is the disappearance of the "concept album". In the past they were very present, The who, Pink Floyd, Beatles, Beach boys, David Bowie and the Kinks widely used concept album as an artistic mean but the only modern concept album that I know of is American idiot, and that was 10-15 years ago.

I just saw and corrected an unfortunate misspell in my previous post ( though it matters little now).

In this instant process of pick and choose, songs they might grow to love in time aren't given a chance and are discarded.